Ghost Images / Screen Flickering / Dead Sub-Pixels

[Stephan456]

Hello, I have an HP ENVY x360 that is less than 1 year old and I have been having lots of display issues. 

Ghost Imaging:

I have been getting bad ghost images doing things like web browsing and leaving static elements on screen for as little as 1-2 minutes. The longer something is static on screen the more prominent and visible the ghost image is and the longer it takes to go away. The ghost images usually are there for a few minutes before they go away. Not quite sure why this is happening or if it's a hardware thing or if it's software related. (The screen is an LED/LCD screen) 

Screen Flickering: 

My display will also have seizures somewhat frequently but only when I do resource intensive tasks. When that happens I must restart the computer for it to stop. (It will stop if I close every application open, but will start up again if I open any application. When I restart the laptop everything works fine again). The seizures/screen flickering is sometimes bad and will glitch out display elements and pretty much the entire OS sometimes. Open windows will often be shifting/glitching from right to left as the screen flickers. I'm not exactly sure what causes the screen flickers/seizures or if it's a software or hardware thing. Possibly ram?? Graphics card?? Windows 11 or driver issue?? Intel Optane?? 

Dead Sub-Pixels: 

There are also some black specs in the top center of the display that I'm pretty sure are dead sub-pixels. They weren't originally there when I got the laptop. 

These issues have been occurring for a few months now and have progressively gotten worse. Photos of these issues are attached below as well as a gif of just the screen flickering. I'm unsure if any of these issues are related or what might be causing them; but I think that the display may just be defective and needs to be replaced. 

What I have done/tried:

•  Ensured that everything is up-to-date.
• All windows updates 
• All driver updates 
• Uninstalled the display adaptor (Intel Iris Xe graphics) and restarted the computer and windows reinstalls it automatically. (I have tried this in safe-mode as well)
• Ran antivirus scans (deep scans and offline scans) and they found nothing. 
• Running HP and Microsoft diagnostics tests (they weren't helpful at all tbh) 

Photos & Gif:

Ghost ImageGhost Image (desktop icons)Screen FlickeringDead Sub-PixelsDead Sub-Pixels (zoomed in).

Laptop specs: 

11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz 1.38 GHz

16 GB ram (x2 8GB Samsung 3200MHz) (original from factory with laptop) 

512 GB SSD + 32 GB Intel Optane 

Intel Iris Xe Graphics

Windows 11 Home 64-bit Version: 22621.521 (22H2)

I always keep my laptop in a nice laptop bag and it's always kept safe. I also use an adjustable laptop stand and it always has plenty of ventilation. Also, while this is a touch screen 2-in-1 convertible laptop I've been using it as just a regular clamshell laptop 99% of the time and have been gentile with it.  I have never encountered ghost image or screen flickering issues before until this laptop. 

[Nal_NR]

Hi @Stephan456,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

I understand that you are getting a flickering screen. I'd like to help! 

To provide you with an accurate solution, I'll need a few more details:

Did you check for any damage on the PC?

Did you try with an alternate monitor?

Have you checked if the issue persists even on the Bios screen?

Have you tried to update the drivers?

In the meantime, let's start off by performing a Hard reset on the Notebook:

Step 1: Performing a hard reset

Resetting the computer can resolve many issues that cause a blank screen. Use the steps in Performin...

If you haven't, Please try an alternate monitor to understand if this is either a hardware or a software failure, 

if the issue does not appear on the alternate monitor, you may need to replace the display assembly on your computer, 

if the issue appears on the alternate monitor/TV as well, re-install the graphics card drivers & update it from the official HP Website: Click here 

Step 3: ​​​​Boot the computer into the Bios screen and check if the screen flickers.

1. Turn off your computer
2. Make sure you have connected the power cable
3. Turn on your notebook, as it is starting press the  F10 button repeatedly

If you don’t have an alternate monitor, I recommend checking if the issue appears on the BIOS screen (restart the computer and tap on F10 to access BIOS) 

This would confirm if it's either a hardware failure or an issue with the graphics card drivers so we may reinstall and update the drivers to fix the issue as mentioned above. 

  

If the issue persists on BIOS as well, please try with a TV to identify if it's the LCD or the motherboard/video card failure, 

  

If the issue occurred after an accident (such as dropping it on the floor, liquid spilled on it, etc.) there could be a hardware failure and in such cases, you may need to get the computer repaired via HP (there could be a charge involved if the PC isn't covered by the accidental damage protection plan) 

For more assistance, please follow the steps suggested in the support document for - HP Notebook and All-in-One PCs - Troubleshooting Screen Issues (Windows 10, 8, 7)

 

Alternatively, If the issue started to happen after a recent software update, please follow the steps suggested in the support document for - HP PCs - Blinking or Flashing Screen After Upgrading to Windows 10

Reply with the result of the above-mentioned steps, for further assistance. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[Stephan456]

Hello @Elohi_NR,

Thank you for your reply and suggestions!! 

Did you check for any damage on the PC? There is no damage to the PC. It has always been kept safe and stored in a laptop bag on a desk by itself. The laptop has only ever been used at home and is in pristine condition. 

Did you try with an alternate monitor? Thank you for suggesting this as I hadn't tried it yet. The screen flickering and glitching does not happen on the external monitor.  Please see the GIF below: 

The laptop display itself flickers and glitches out, but the external monitor is unaffected and I can carry on with no issues on the external monitor. 

While the tasks I am doing are resource intensive, they are well within the laptops capabilities and really don't max out any of the resources and if it does it's for a very brief period of time. But that doesn't at all explain the screen flickering and glitching. The screen flickering/glitching starts happening randomly. With Task Manager open at the time it starts the resources aren't even maxed out or terribly high in usage the vast majority of the time. With the external monitor I am able to use everything just fine with no issues while the screen flickering is occurring. I am also able to use the laptop just fine only using the built in display while the screen is flickering and glitching out, although it makes it more difficult with the picture shifting/glitching around. 

Have you checked if the issue persists even on the Bios screen? The screen flickering is only triggered when doing resource intensive tasks. It decreases or stops completely when I close everything, but will flicker when I open about any application and I must restart the computer for it to stop. After restarting the computer everything is normal. In order to enter the bios you must restart the computer, so it would not show up in the bios. 

Have you tried to update the drivers? Yes, I have. I have downloaded all the drivers from HP's website for my laptop. I have also uninstalled the display adapter (through device manager) and restarting the computer (which causes the driver to re-install automatically). HP Support Assistant says that all drivers are up to date. All drivers are up to date as far as I know.

Additional Information:

I have not tried a hard reset. I'm unsure if that will be helpful. Also, will a hard reset erase all of my data?

I'm unsure of the cause of the screen flickering/glitching. As I mentioned in my original post and in this reply above it only gets triggered when doing resource intensive tasks and everything is back to normal after restarting the PC. But it seems like a hardware issue? As it only occurs on the built in display and not on an external monitor as you saw in the GIF.

[Nal_NR]

Hi @Stephan456,

Thanks for your reply and really appreciate for providing detailed information. 

Hard reset will not erase any data as we are not running a recovery. However, This might require one on one interaction to fix the issue.

I've sent you a private message. In order to access your private messages, click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Support Community profile, next to your profile Name or simply click on this link

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

[BramSijtsma]

Hello Stephan456,

Have u tried uninstalling the drivers in the device manager?

It looks like you have the same problems as us with your Windows 11 & Intel graphics drivers.

Look at our topic : https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Laptop-Screen-Display-flickering/m-p/...

We havent found a permanent solution tho, but it might help you find the problem if its the drivers or not.

Kind regards,

Bram

[Stephan456]

Hello Bram, 

Thank you for your reply!

Looking at the topic that you linked, I have further investigated the issue and causes that of my screen flickering. Tonight I was able to trigger the screen flickering and went to device manager and disabled the integrated monitor and then scanned for hardware changes it didn't do anything. I did the same thing with the display adaptor (Intel Iris Xe Graphics) and it completely froze the computer and made the screen go black for about 30 seconds. (I did this with the application open using the graphics card and got a fatal error from the application.) But the screen flickering had stopped completely. 

I ruled it out as an issue with the integrated graphics [and it's drivers] instead of the display itself (minus the dead subpixels). I'm unsure of the correct driver I need to fix this issue though or if I can roll back to the original factory driver somehow. 

My laptop came pre-shipped with Windows 11 with a current 11th gen possessor with Intel Iris Xe graphics (at the time of purchase) so you would think that there wouldn't be any issues 🥴🤦‍♂️. I'm assuming at some point a driver was automatically updated to something incompatible at some point. 

 Thank you!

- Stephan456

Edit: I opened a help ticket with Intel regarding the issue. I'll update with a new reply once I hear back from them. 

[Stephan456]

UPDATE

SOLUTION FOR SCREEN FLICKERING:

I have been troubleshooting with Intel and they helped me find the correct driver(s) to fix the screen flickering!! They also had me update the BIOS on my laptop. 

"Clean Installation of Intel® Graphics Drivers in Windows is available at: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057389/graphics.html"

"We recommend you to perform clean installation of the graphic drivers from manufacture's website https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-envy-x360-15.6-inch-2-in-1-laptop-pc-15-es0000/2..."

Here is the generic driver (which also worked for me):  

"Please install Intel® Graphics Driver 31.0.101.3790/31.0.101.2114 for Xe Dedicated from version that is now installed (SSU log) "Driver Version:"30.0.101.1340" from link bellow:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19344/intel-graphics-windows-dch-drivers.html"

UPDATE ON THE GHOST IMAGES:

The ghost images are still persistent. They still happen even when booted into safe mode. This seems to be an issue with the display itself rather than with the graphics driver or graphics card. 

[Stephan456 · Accepted solution]

UPDATE:

SOLUTION FOR SCREEN FLICKERING: 

After opening a help ticket with Intel they had me run the Intel® System Support Utility for Windows. They had me update my BIOS to the latest version. Also they provided links to the latest Intel Iris Xe graphics drivers and had me do a clean instillation of them. 

Graphics Driver from HP's website: (I currently have this one installed)

"We recommend you to perform clean installation of the graphic drivers from manufacture's website: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-envy-x360-15.6-inch-2-in-1-laptop-pc-15-es0000/2..." 

General Intel Iris Xe Graphics driver: (This worked fine for me as well)

"Please install Intel® Graphics Driver 31.0.101.3790/31.0.101.2114 for Xe Dedicated from version that is now installed (SSU log) "Driver Version:"30.0.101.1340" from link bellow:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19344/intel-graphics-windows-dch-drivers.html"

Ghost Images and Dead Sub-Pixels Update:

I have determined the ghost images to be more than likely an issue with the physical display itself rather than a software issue. The ghost images occur regardless of the drivers installed and even occur in safe mode. 

I contacted HP support and was on chat with them for about 2 hours. The guy ran diagnostics, had me preform a hard reset, reset the BIOS to factory settings,  he did another clean install of the graphics driver. All the things possible were done in troubleshooting. The ghost images and dead pixels persisted regardless of what was done. 

Solution: 

A repair order was created and packaging materials and a shipping label will be sent to me. The laptop will be shipped to a service center for repairs. 

Also the laptop will more than likely be wiped and the laptop factory reset. I can understand why, but still stressful and a pain to deal with moving files somewhere else, backing things up...etc. and the whole situation in general 😕. But I'll figure it out. 

I will update in the future with how things go.